The present invention relates to hand-held scoring devices for sporting events and, in particular, to a hand-held scoring computer for inputting data related to soccer game activities on a real-time basis as to team, player, activity and location and, after the event is completed, downloading the data into a computer for reporting and analyzing aspects of the game.
Statistics are commonly kept for various sporting events to denote the performance of the team and its players with regard to the basic relevant activities of the game. Such statistics provide a continuously updated account of the team and player performance over the course of a game or season. This enables determinations of scoring, location, tendencies, penalties and the like.
It is also desirable to memorialize when and from where certain activities take place. In games such as soccer wherein the play takes place on a continuous basis without timeouts or a stopping of the clock, it is oftentimes difficult to contemporaneously record all of the significant events or at a later time reconstruct the missing data.
Traditionally, such statistics have been recorded manually and the limitations attendant thereto are well recognized. In order to overcome some of the limitations associated with manual scoring. Various approaches have been proposed to alleviate such cumbersome and time-consuming process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,188 to Metz, discloses a bar code based recording system for tracking various activities related to basketball, such as team, player, shot location and type of shot. However, this system requires considerable space for set up comprising three separate bar coded charts, which are read by a bar code scanner, and entered into a computer. The multiplicity of components, the space required for setup and operation, and manual activities associated with this approach does not lend the system for use as a real time sideline recording system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,826 to Johnson discloses a sports statistics calculator wherein a handheld, portable device is used to keep track of certain aspects of a tennis games, primarily the recording of type and playability of shots. The inputted information may be downloaded to a computer for analysis subsequent to the game. However, each type of shot requires a dedicated keyboard and provides only summary information regarding the game. The system is also limited to a single match with two contestants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,982 to Villarreal discloses a portable electronic scorekeeper which allows the user to document and record certain information related to a baseball game on a player and team basis but is primarily related to securing only summary score card type information. The system does not allow the user to track the location and flow of activities related to a particular sporting activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,333 to Kelson et al. al. discloses a microcomputer system for recording various activities related to a golf game on a hole by hole basis. The system tracks distances, clubs, shot length and other aspects related to the golf round. However, such data is not tracked contemporaneously with the game and provides only a single coordinate, i.e. length, of location.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,651 to Little discloses a wrist carried microcomputer worn by a player for recording information based on a won-lost outcome with a limited ability to track the type of a shot resulting in the outcome. The device is limited to single player and not usable in a team sport activity.